PDC Energy company abandons west Greeley relocation plans

PDC Energy will have conference call Tuesday with analysts to discuss the company’s second quarter earnings.

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PDC Energy has abandoned plans to rehab and move into a long vacant west Greeley building after roughly a year of work to rehab the property.

The oil and gas company, one of the largest producers in Weld County behind Anadarko Petroleum and Noble Energy, had been planning since last fall to rehab the old AT&T building, which sits on an 8.84-acre plot just west of 87th Avenue and 20th Street.

Michael Edwards, senior director of investor relations for the company, confirmed the company is now selling the property. PDC has an existing office in Evans, and it still remains too small for the company's purposes, Edwards said.

"We put a lot of work into the rehab plans which will hopefully benefit a new owner," Edwards said. "With over 150 employees associated with our Wattenberg operations, the vast majority who live in Weld, we remain very committed to greater Greeley, Evans and the Wattenberg."

The Wattenberg Field is a natural gas rich field in the center of Weld, in which companies have drilled since 1970. It continues to be lucrative for drilling operations. PDC enjoys an asset hold of roughly 96,000 acres in the field. Because of that longevity, Edwards said PDC will remain in the area.

He said the company will look for a new home in the area, but he wouldn't go into detail about the company's plans.

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The property had become an eyesore in the past few years, and Greeley officials were excited to see it rehabbed and back on the tax rolls.

"It's kind of discouraging or frustrating that we got it to this point, and they decided to pursue other avenues," said Paul Whalen, a planner with the city of Greeley who was working on the project.

The building was originally developed in 1974 and has seen a number of tenants throughout the years. AT&T moved out about six years ago, leaving the building empty. It has since fallen into disrepair.

PDC had to annex the property into the city, then get zoning approval, and then receive special permission from the planning commission for its specified use as a planned unit development. It was quite involved, Whalen said.

The company also had extensive remodel plans, including a 1,000-square-foot additional entrance into the building that would be an aesthetic touch off 20th Street.

Whalen said company officials may have encountered more issues than they anticipated, which pushed the costs of remodel significantly higher than they had planned.

"Once they got into the demolition and got into the building, they realized it would be a bigger bite than they wanted," Whalen said.

The plan now, Whalen said, is to gut the building, seal it up and put it up for sale.

Edwards said the change in direction for the company — which has not had to lay off any employees in the oil and gas downturn, when other companies have — had nothing to do with the downturn and its effects on the company.

Whalen said because of the zoning and prep work on the property, any new user would have to have a similar use.

"It will have to be something comparable, something that the neighbors expected and lived with the last 30 years," Walen said.

"I thought it was going to be a nice rescue of an existing structure that had become dilapidated and kind of a problem, so to see it not come to fruition is rather frustrating."

PDC Earnings

PDC Energy will have conference call Tuesday with analysts to discuss the company’s second quarter earnings.